Hopefully this is NOT true. With excellent VFX houses in the UK and even
better practical effects companies worldwide, this would be an
outrageous, excessive waste of a rare historic artifact! Large scale
unmanned airplanes would be 1/10th the cost and provide better and more
reliable footage....11 Academy Awards.... Airplanes of The
Aviator...some of the best flying sequences ever put on film. Do not
plunder history for movie drivel. #SaveHistory #RareAirplane #NoWarbirdsKilledDuringFilming
Click on link to read the article.
https://indierevolver.com/2016/06/06/rumor-warner-brothers-purchased-a-5-million-ww2-plane-for-christopher-nolan-to-crash/